The following discussion sets forth the inventors' own knowledge of certain technologies and/or problems associated therewith. Accordingly, this discussion is not an admission of prior art, and it is not an admission of the knowledge available to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
Management and dissemination of information are typically at the forefront of the administrative burdens for controlled-environment facilities. Controlled-environment facilities, as used herein, may include inmate facilities (e.g., municipal jails, county jails, state prisons, federal prisons, military stockades, juvenile facilities, and detention camps), or hospitals, nursing homes, camps, schools, and the like. An example of the aforementioned administrative burden in a correctional institution or detainment facility such as a county or municipal jail might arise when an individual is booked in as an inmate of the facility and questions are directed to that facility from friends, family, attorneys, and the like. Typically, a great number of questions, commonly from a number of telephone calls or visits, are directed to the facility's booking personnel asking for details related to the newly booked inmate and his circumstances. However, controlled-environment facilities, particularly inmate facilities, may wish to avoid contact with friends and family members, because in many cases these friends or family members are emotional, and the facility administrators may wish to avoid conflict. Similarly, information about the facility, such as visitation hours, location and the like, is constantly being sought by the public, friends and family of residents, or the like. Typically, controlled-environment facilities do not employ automated information systems or the like. Additionally, scheduling visitation from friends, family and others, use of commissary facilities, and the like, raise other administrative functions to burden the facility. Managing transactions within a jail or the like, such as commissary deposits, medical payments, connecting with bail bondsmen, scheduling meetings and court dates with an attorney, and the like become tedious tasks for facility administrators.
Controlled-environment facilities may have goods and service providers or service professionals registered or otherwise eligible to provide goods or services to residents of the facility. Examples of such service providers or professionals may include attorneys, bail bondsmen, and the like, registered or eligible to provide services to the residents of a municipal or county jail. It may be problematic for such professionals to be notified of the intake of new residents that may require the goods or services of the professional. Regardless, such professionals typically need to communicate with the jail to obtain information about clients and potential clients, as performance of services dictate. Typically, such professionals or service providers must place a telephone call to the facility to obtain information and/or such information must be obtained in person or through the mail. For example, in the case of a municipal or county jail, a bail bondsman might need to determine the charges against a suspect and any bond amounts or conditions that may have already been set. Attorneys may need similar information as well as information concerning court dates and the like. To obtain such information a professional might need to contact multiple parties. The dissemination of information to goods and service providers or service professionals may be a burden on the facility and obtaining this information may be time consuming for the provider or service professional.
As pointed out above, family members or friends typically desire information related to a resident of a controlled-environment facility. For example, when a relative calls to obtain information related to a person recently arrested, such as charges, opportunities for visitation, personal item needs and the like, they speak to a booking officer or similar personnel in the jail. The booking officer may direct the friend or family member to somebody else to obtain some of the requested information. Several calls may be required to gather the desired information. Thereafter, the family or friends of the detained party may need to look for professional assistance for the detainee. For example, the friends or family may seek out the services of a bail bondsman and/or attorney. This may require research or at least consultation of a telephone directory, advertisements, or the like. Typically, the friends or family members would then need to confer with the professional(s) to determine if the professional(s) may be of assistance in this particular case. If assistance is not available from that professional, due to technical or time constraints (i.e., the professional is not registered with the facility, does not handle the types of matters involved, has other obligations of his or her time, or the like), then the friends and family must continue their search for assistance. Such a process is quite time consuming, often requiring days to complete. However, service professionals, and the like, oftentimes depend on calls coming from residents of a facility, or from friends or family of these residents, seeking their services. Problematically, no mechanisms exist to aid a professional in offering their services, particularly where the friends or family may seek best value goods or professional services.